Page 46 of Classroom Confessions

Cole held the back of his neck with both hands, like the weight of his head wouldn’t stand on its own. He released a low curse, even though he’d already asked me the same question.

“So, that night…” He trailed off while shooting a look at Ethan.

I stood between all three of them, their bodies far enough away that I couldn’t touch but close enough that their confusion and anger made my skin tingle. David’s house was eerily silent. No dripping water from the kitchen sink. No squeaky closet door creaking when the air conditioning blew just right. Nothing to distract me from the truth I had to reveal. “The night you and Cole slept over? Yes, I knew then.”

David swung his head toward Cole. “And you?” Pain bracketed his mouth in deep lines. He took one stiff-legged step forward. “You knew. That’s what you two were talking about just now, wasn’t it?”

Cole stepped up to my back. “Yes. I suspected but needed to make sure. I found a picture of Rebecca with Carrie when we were leaving.”

Fitz pawed at my leg and I stooped to gather him into my arms. “Cole didn’t know for sure. You should be mad at me, not him. It’s not his fault.” This was all on me. I’d made the choice not to reveal the truth. I should have told David as soon as I came back from visiting Dad and Carrie. I should have been upfront with all of them. But hindsight always gave us the right answer on what we should have or should not have done. It was easy to look back now and see where I’d gone wrong.

“Oh, I’m plenty pissed at both of you.” David wheeled toward Ethan. “What about you? Am I the only fool here who didn’t know that I was having sex with my ex-girlfriend’s stepdaughter?” A dark laugh twisted his face. “God, that sounds like some TV bullshit.”

“It’s news to me too.” Ethan stood with his arms crossed, that dark look I’d come to love so much flattening his expression. He almost looked furious, but when he shifted toward me, a softness burned in his eyes. “But it doesn’t change anything for me.”

The breath I’d been holding whooshed out so fast that lights flashed in my vision. Fitz licked my chin before sprawling across my arm. His soft, warm body in my arms slowed my thundering pulse. I took a breath, held it, then let it out. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Why didn’t you?” David stepped away from me and shoved his hands into his pockets. The muscles in his forearms rippled like he was clenching and unclenching his fists. “You had multiple chances to tell me, yet you kept it a secret. Why? And what changed?”

“Cole made me realize how much I was hurting you by keeping it a secret.” I forced the words out despite the pain they sent spiking through my heart. I’d walked away from them so they wouldn’t lose their jobs, but this felt like the worst kind of betrayal.

It was the pain in David’s face that undid me and made me realize how much I’d fucked up.

I kept my chin up and tried to stop the quivering in my lower jaw. “I was afraid you wouldn’t want to be with me.”

Carrie said David never showed his emotions, that he’d been closed off and unable to commit. I could see that part of him rising to the surface. His face blanked, but when I looked close enough, his emotions were there, faint but unmistakable.

His shoulders hunched forward.

“Carrie ruined him.” Ethan crossed the living room to stand beside David, as I’d known he would. The three of them were best friends.

The last thing I wanted was to come between them and break up what they had.

“Don’t.” David walked backward until he reached the couch, then sank into it. “Carrie and I had some good years together.”

Did he know why she’d left him? I didn’t dare ask. Opening that old wound once was enough. There was no need for me to add insult to the already gaping injury.

“I was afraid you’d try to get her back, that you’d come between her and Dad.” I whispered the truth into the silence. “I was afraid I’d never be enough for you. If Carrie was the woman you told me about, I don’t have a prayer of living up to her.”

“You’ve exceeded everything, Rebecca.” David moved in slow motion, his head lifting. He’d been staring at my feet, but his eyes moved upward, taking me in inch by inch. “I thought Carrie ruined me. When she left, I was empty, shellshocked. I thought I’d never have feelings for anyone ever again. Then you…” He stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes as he winced and shook his head.

What had he been about to say? That he had feelings for me?

Cole remained behind me, his presence solid and reassuring. This was why he’d said I had to come clean. I hated confrontation, but they deserved the truth. This affected everyone, but David most of all.

“Does she know?” David leaned into the couch, the sharp lines of his jaw standing out in stark relief.

I shook my head, not trusting my voice. I could tell them the whole story of how I found out and how it almost ruined me. But that made it about me. I refused to downplay David’s experience and make this about my problems and my insecurities. I’d come close enough already by admitting my fear.

Cole’s hand drifted over my back, the barely there touch a reassurance. “Breathe. It’ll be okay.”

Would it, though? I sucked air through the tightness in my throat.

“She has to be told.” David had himself under control, the extreme rigidness and lack of expression almost chilling.

“Why?” Ethan asked.

David focused straight ahead. “I’m worried how she’ll take it when she finds out. It needs to be done soon. I don’t want her blaming Rebecca.”

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